Resources

DISCLAIMER: The resources on this page are intended for use by teachers and parents as supplemental materials for each of the topics presented in Respect Life Week. Please keep in mind that not all resources originate from Catholic sources and not all convey the fullness of Catholic Social Teaching on the topic. Resources from secular sources provide context for the way each topic is approached in our modern cultural reality and are meant to be understood in that context.

Topic: Immigration

Solidarity invites us to see immigrants through the lens of our common dignity as members of the human community. We are challenged to overcome the often volatile rhetoric of political parties and media frenzies to look at what our faith tells us about the situation. When we come to understand what motivates people to leave behind their homelands and their heritage to come to the United States, we learn that they are looking for the same things we are: peace, security, opportunity, education, and stability.

Fences and Neighbors
Human beings are living bodies. We have location. We inhabit particular places. Yet we are not rooted in place as plants are. Unlike or more so than any of the other animals, we can see, reflect upon, and desire things not immediately present to us; hence, we always to some indefinite extent transcend the place (and the community) that locates us. Indeed, we quite naturally yearn for what is more than human, what is divine.

Topic: Abortion

Today, with ultrasound and high definition images of unborn babies, it is hard to understand how people can still make the choice for abortion. Yet, as contemporary society so readily shows, our culture is built on the availability of abortion. When abortion is available in society, government and social safety nets that should support women and children often no longer exist in favor of the easier, cheaper option of abortion. In these situations, choosing life demands a supportive response from the community, especially from Christians.

Fundamental Injustices in Our Society by Archbishop José Gomez
Abortion and euthanasia are “fundamental” social issues, because if the child in the womb has no right to be born, if the sick and the old have no right to be taken care of, then there is no solid foundation to defend anyone’s human rights, and no foundation for peace and justice in society.

Suicide and Abortion Stem from the Same Lie: That Some Lives Don’t Matter
But at some point, we really do have to think about abortion. We really do. We cannot always say, “Not now.” We cannot always say, “This issue is nuanced.” We cannot always stuff uncomfortable truths back down in the hole where the light cannot reach them because someday the Light of the World will come again, and that Light will reach down into every dark hole, and the secret thoughts of many—and their lies—will be laid bare.

Options for Pregnancy provides free, confidential help for women making pregnancy decisions. Referrals to local pro-life pregnancy clinics and centers for counseling, medical care and resources.

By Your Side LA connects women and men hurting from the pain of past abortion to personal resources that can help them heal.

Topic: End of Life

The international movement to legalize assisted suicide teaches that some lives are worth living while others have no value. As Christians, we embrace interdependence and understand that suffering is a necessary, if difficult, part of life. When we help others in need, we are practicing works of mercy. When we ask for help and allow others to care for us, we are providing the opportunity for others to offer mercy to us.

Letter to the Elderlyby St Pope John Paul II
But if the life of each of us is limited and fragile, we are consoled by the thought that, by virtue of our spiritual souls, we will survive beyond death itself. Moreover, faith opens us to a “hope that does not disappoint” (cf. Rom 5:5), placing us before the perspective of the final resurrection.

Coming to the End of Life in California by Archbishop José Gomez
Our government leaders tell us that granting the right to choose a doctor-prescribed death is compassionate and will comfort the elderly and persons facing terminal and chronic illness. But killing is not caring. True compassion means walking with those who are suffering, sharing their pain, helping them bear their burdens. Loving your neighbor as yourself is not a duty we fulfill by giving our neighbor a lethal dose of pills.

Fundamental Injustices in Our Society by Archbishop José Gomez
Among the evils and injustices in American life in 2016, abortion and euthanasia are different and stand alone. Each is a direct, personal attack on innocent and vulnerable human life. Abortion and euthanasia function in our society as what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls “structures of sin” or “social sins.”

Life is a Gift, Even With a Terminal Illness
The Catholic woman wants people to know assisted suicide devalues the lives of people who are approaching the end of life. She said what people with terminal illnesses and their caregivers need are society’s compassion and loving holistic support. They do not need “aid in dying,” but “aid in living,” and they can teach important lessons to those who accompany them to the end.

Letting Go: What Should Medicine Do When it Can’t Save Your Life?
In ordinary medicine, the goal is to extend life. We’ll sacrifice the quality of your existence now—by performing surgery, providing chemotherapy, putting you in intensive care—for the chance of gaining time later. Hospice deploys nurses, doctors, and social workers to help people with a fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right now. That means focussing on objectives like freedom from pain and discomfort, or maintaining mental awareness for as long as possible, or getting out with family once in a while.

To Live Each Day with Dignity
US Bishops’ Letter on End of Life. To live in a manner worthy of our human dignity, and to spend our final days on this earth in peace and comfort, surrounded by loved ones—that is the hope of each of us. In particular, Christian hope sees these final days as a time to prepare for our eternal destiny.

Patients’ Rights Action Fund
PRAF works across the US to oppose assisted suicide legislation, empower life-affirming healthcare and support patients seeking quality healthcare at the end of life.

Topic: Marriage

The topic of marriage has been highly politicized in our culture in recent years, resulting in a great deal of confusion. The reality is that so many children live in homes with unmarried parents or divorce parents or only one parent. We are often left believing that it is better to not teach about the reality of marriage rather than offend any student.

Actually, the opposite is true. By teaching the truth of marriage—a loving, permanent commitment between a man and a woman to each other and any children they may have—we allow students to realize that God did intend something special for us; that we are made for and capable of lasting, authentic love; and that even if our own human realities fall far from this ideal, they can still aspire to it as adults. Rather than offending, this teaching is liberating.​

The Joy of Marriage by Archbishop José Gomez
We need to strengthen good marriages and good families, and lift them up as models to others, especially to our young people. We need to show our young people how beautiful it is to be married and to start a family — how beautiful it is to share in God’s plan for humanity.

The Beautiful Truth About Marriage and Family by Archbishop José Gomez
In God’s creation, there is something unique — something beautiful and sacred — about the relationship between man and woman in marriage. Their union in love as husband and wife creates new life, a new generation of human society.

The No. 1 Social Justice Imperative is Marriage
A consistent and irrefutable mountain of research has shown, reaching back to the 1970s and beyond, that marriage strongly boosts every important measure of well-being for children, women, and men.

Prioritizing Child Well-Being
George Mason University law professor Helen Alvaré critiques the U.S. government’s long-standing response to the problems associated with nonmarital childbearing, and offers what some might view as a radical proposal: a shift in federal policy and programs away from prioritizing the needs and desires of adults and toward the best interests of children.

Teenagers, Stop Asking for Nude Photos
An analysis of nearly 500 accounts from 12- to 18-year-old girls about their negative experiences with sexting found that over two-thirds had been asked for explicit images.

Humanum— short series of videos produced by the Vatican that explores how the destiny of humanity passes through the family.

For Your Marriage — US Bishops’ website with videos, resources, prayers, and tips on living a holy marriage and family in our culture.

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Office of Marriage and Family Life offers resources for people preparing for marriage, in need of services, and wishing to enrich their marriages.

Has this topic inspired you to want to do service in your community for those in need? See our complete list of volunteer service opportunities in and around Los Angeles, for individuals and families with children.

Topic: Environment

Pope Francis issued the encyclical Laudato si, the first written specifically on the environment. In it, the Holy Father discusses the connection between honoring the dignity of each person, serving the poor and vulnerable, and protecting our environment. With this theological discussion, he invites Catholics to reflect on our use of resources and how what we buy, eat, and trash can have a great effect on the environment and the lives of millions of our fellow brothers and sisters on earth.

Laudato si and the New Evangelization
Pope Francis in this document is laying the groundwork for a new Christian humanism, rooted in the simple and beautiful image of Jesus that he presents for the world’s consideration.

Renewing the Face of the Earth
God made this earth, not for its own sake, but to be a home for the human family. The good things of creation are meant to be shared, developed and used for the good of all of his children.

Care for Creation, A Vocation
The nature of the ecological crisis necessitates a complete transformation in perspective and a “profound interior conversion”.

Has this topic inspired you to want to do service in your community for those in need? See our complete list of volunteer service opportunities in and around Los Angeles, for individuals and families with children.

Topic: Loneliness

Today, we are facing a crisis of loneliness. Study after study finds that roughly 40% of all Americans say they feel lonely or isolated. How is this possible, you may ask? Look around. People are connected to one another now more than ever. New ways to connect are being created each day. But, as it turns out, connection is not the same as relationship.

LifeTeen provides free resources to put on a “Life Night” to help teens talk about the emotions that result from a crisis. When it’s Dark.

Dying of Despair
“As solidarity and mutual affection disappear from our public spaces, as the horizon darkens and loneliness grows, the small lights emanating from cohesive communities—grounded in faith and motivated by charity—will shine more brightly. Connections between one lonely individual and another will become all the more precious in a society that can only value individuals for their utility.”

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?
“More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.”

The Real Campus Scourge
Across the country, college freshmen are settling into their new lives and grappling with something that doesn’t compete with protests and (has) everything to do with being human. They’re lonely.

The Decline and Revival of Friendship in America
While Facebook provides the sense of friendship, and on occasion the seed for actual friendship, the substance of face-to-face friendship is still missing. The only people I feel truly comfortable hanging out with, or going to a concert or sporting event with, are Pam and our son Evan.

How Loneliness Wears on the Body
“New research supports the idea that social isolation is detrimental to physical health—and that companionship may improve it.”

The Poison we Pick
This nation pioneered modern life. Now epic numbers of Americans are killing themselves with opioids to escape it.